This Week, the Best Dressed Stars Went the Extra Mile

With awards season and the European runway collectsions in full swing, celebrities are currently spoiled for choice when it comes to fashion. If you missed great big gowns, statement suits, and risqué style, all three returned this week thanks to performers willing to go the extra mile. Naturally, Lady Gaga led the pack. In Rome to film Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, Gaga was spotted about town in a white Max Mara suit whose high-waisted wide-leg trousers called to mind Katherine Hepburn. When she’s in movie star mode, Gaga always delivers. 

At the Goya Awards, the luminaries of Spanish cinema went daring. A nominee for her role in the musical-comedy, My Heart Goes Boom!, Verónica Echegui dazzled in look four of Julien Dossena’s spring/summer 2021 show for Paco Rabanne. An appealing alternative to the standard sequin dress, Echegui’s silver crop top and skirt combination was modern and glamorous. 

Elsewhere in Spain, actress Milena Smit provided a haute couture throwback when she arrived at the Feroz Awards wearing a feathered gown from Jean Paul Gaultier’s fall/winter 2018 collectsion. While Smit’s outfit was too new to qualify as vintage, it offered welcome nostalgia. Since the designer announced his retirement back in 2020, his designs have become even more of a hot commodity, resurfacing at events and on social media. Embellishment heavy and unapologetically over the top, it exemplified Gaultier’s strengths and paired beautifully with Smit’s black face covering. 

The prize for the most meaningful style moment goes to Raya and the Last Dragon star Kelly Marie Tran. As Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess, Tran sought to honor her Vietnamese heritage at the film’s virtual premiere. Tran sought out the talents of Vietnamese-American designer Thai Nguyen to create a twist on Vietnam’s national garment, the Áo dài. Created in Nguyen’s atelier in just 48 hours, the stunning black and gold piece was embroidered with a phoenix and lotus motif, which carried over into Tran’s gilded headdress. A great example of using fashion to send a deeper message, Nguyen’s creation gave Tran a red carpet return worthy of royalty.